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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#67: The Great Escape

There are times when the world feels so chaotic and out of our control that a break from reality is called for. And what better way to leave everything behind than jumping headfirst into the escapism of stories?

Whether it’s a larger-than-life situation, a comforting old trope, or a genre that’s literally out of this world, stories have been providing people with a way to retreat from their troubles ever since humanity first started telling them around a fire.

To truly keep in the spirit of escapism, make sure you fully immerse both yourself and the reader in the world you’re creating. Use sensory details to really pull us in — make us see, smell, and taste every detail of your story, so that we fully believe we’re standing alongside the characters. After all, the real world will still be here when the story’s over.

This week's prompts

Write about a pirate captain obsessed with finding a mythical treasure.

Adventure – 144 stories

Write a thriller about someone who witnesses a murder… except there’s no evidence that a murder took place.

Thriller and Suspense – 218 stories

Write a romance where the characters pretend to be dating each other in order to win a reality show.

Romance – 70 stories

Write a story where one character needs to betray the other, but isn’t sure if they can.

Dark – 170 stories

Write a space adventure story that features a visit to an alien marketplace.

Science Fiction – 123 stories

Stories

“A Murder!” by Jessy Glazewski

Submitted to Contest #67

Ivan hated birds. He hated everything about them, the way they looked. The way they walked, flew, chirped in the early hours of the morning. Cawing relentlessly into the late hours of the night. The foul smell they would leave in trails as they flew past him on his early morning walks. And the poop. Don’t get him started on the poop. There was nothing Ivan found more appalling than to wake up to find a fresh, sloping pile of oozing, slimming poop on his baby—a 67 fuchsia red mustang. Rebuilt from the most humble of b...

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“Rouge” by Molly Leasure

Submitted to Contest #67

From a nozzle, black paint eases along the curves of a fear-stricken Marilyn Monroe apparent. Blonde curls lick her earlobes, framing classic gold earrings. Rouge highlights her widened, luscious lips. And pristine eyebrows lay stark against her broad forehead. But that’s where the similarities end. She’s her own woman, dressed to the nines in anguish.Levi shakes another can. Blue this time. His fingers splay on the unmarked metal as he leans in to meet her eyes. “Hey beautiful,” he whispers, laying down an outline in her massive pupils. “Ho...

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“Liars-In-Waiting” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #67

The marketplace is bustling when I enter, leaving the damp alley behind. It is my central source of transportation; though grimy, the alley provides solitude found nowhere else in Dystran. As advertised by any bard or traveler, Dystran is our kingdom's "shining jewel." Whoever came up with the slogan must not have spent much time in the city. Dystran is as shining as a pig pen is fragrant. It's harvesting season, and the market shows it. Around me, farmers lug in their haul. Colorful booths are arranged, splotches of color amongst the...

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“Regrets and Dreams” by Yasaman Ghobadi

Submitted to Contest #67

There are inevitable accidents in life which, change something delicate deep down inside us everlastingly. It varies from person to person yet resembles in being not explicable but rather tangible and breathing only for the one who experienced it!For me, it happened one outrageous, blue night.As my co-worker had an accident and was hospitalized, I was snowed-under at the company and had to stay there for some hours more. After I left the office and walked for half an hour, at 1:30 am, I reached the car agency to take a taxi but, I had unfort...

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“Planned” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #67

Mature themes. Discretion advised. You saw me, reader. I didn’t realize you’d come back in the bar, having forgotten your wallet in the back room. There’s no evidence. Not a single drop of blood or brush of a fingerprint. Not an ounce of suspicion. No evidence. Except you. You can go to the police right now; I won’t blame you. I won’t do anything. I realize you’d be well within your rights to scoff and roll your eyes at that promise, but I swear on my dead daughter’s grave. Ah, that stopped you, didn...

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“Free-Range Meat” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #67

We were at the breakfast table when the upper half of our house disappeared. The ground thudded and vibrated — glasses and fine china rattled in Mum’s for-best cabinet. I frowned up at the clouds, which dotted the blue sky. A breeze ruffled my hair and I inhaled the clean air. Bits of cereal dropped from my upraised spoon. They plinked and plonked into the milk in the bowl.“What on Earth—” said Dad but that was as far as he got. All three of us rose up into the air. A wooden clatter as one of us knocked our chair over. Something shattered — ...

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“The Edelweiss Pirates” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #67

You’ve heard, I’m sure, of the Hitler Youth: young men (not quite of age to truly join the fight) that were indoctrinated into Nazism. Young women found an equal path through the League of German Girls.Just smaller Nazis, honestly.Father raved on and on about the Youth from the moment I turned ten years old. Oh, the unwavering pride he held for the Nazi Party and their great leader. The way he smiled when he talked about his son joining a militaristic group of innocent children….I kept my mouth shut, but my mind never stopped screaming. To l...

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“Through The Mist” by Joe Sauers

Submitted to Contest #67

Jaunty merriment danced along the crisp night air like autumn leaves of song soaring on the bitter breeze. Across the water in Boston harbour, through the darkened streets and over the roof tops, the sounds of festivity issuing from The Whaler tavern could be heard by all who cared to listen. The ale was cold, the peanuts were fresh and the sport was true. Liam Cleary, Edward Shaw and William Reilly were surprised by the communal roister. Their usual, quiet haunt was overtaken by a throng of locals currently in the throes of celebration. Fro...

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“Simplicity: Part 2” by Lina Oz

Submitted to Contest #67

I stare at the young man with the kind blue eyes seated in front of me. He happily chomps down on a cheeseburger, ketchup dripping from the back of the bun and onto the table. His gaze occasionally flits up to meet mine before his cheeks redden and he glances down again.“Er…what’s your name?” he finally breathes, breaking the silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable one. The quiet was nice, actually, especially after the chants of thousands of fans still echoing in my ear from the concert I’d abandoned. It feels like years ago. Perhaps it is.“Fra...

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“The Heirloom” by 🕊 🎀 𝒱𝒶𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒶 𝒱𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 🎀 🕊

Submitted to Contest #67

I heard the rain splashing at the window. It was another rainy day in Chicago. This year the rain started earlier in July than in August. I loved the rain but bummer I couldn't go out and play. I might be fifteen but I feel like I’m still that joyful little girl I once was. Now when I look at my childhood picture I feel like I don't know myself. The little girl with freckles and an ice cream cone in her hands. I looked at my hair in the photo. It was a shimmering golden spug in curls. My hair looked nothing like that now. I had dyed it brown...

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“Far Away” by Kylie Wallis

Submitted to Contest #67

In her five years of being on the ship called Sanctuary, Rowen and her crew had always been busy transporting cargo or passengers. She was able to do the required maintenance mostly by herself and kept the ship flying like a bird.She also paid her people well, with the money they earned. In return they gave her devotion and hard work. Some jobs were more dangerous than others, but never had the crew failed to deliver on what they promised. Over time, they had become like a second family. She would be devastated to lose any one of them.This s...

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“Rough Seas” by Moon Lion

Submitted to Contest #67

"I'm thinking, that this island here.." "No, no, ye slimy bitch, this is the thir' island ye'v led us to! D'you know w'ere it is or not?" "Excuse me, you savage moron, but I don't see pointing us anywhere unless the lost gold is at the bottom of a rum bottle!" "Shaddup, the captain knows I be an 'onest man, unlike you, blasted witch." Captain Dreyfus rolled his eyes, inhaling the spray of the sea, and running his hands over the rough wood of the Siren. Under him, the ship rocked ever so slightly, buffeted by gentle breezes, its might...

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“The Copia of Cannam” by Joe Sauers

Submitted to Contest #67

The Northern Ocean was dead calm on the day that Captain Sice Halland and his crew sailed in search of the fabled Copia of Cannam. The clouds on the horizon, only just risen into sight, softly framed the vast expanse of dark sky above them. Thousands of distant stars could be counted and a faint Seren, the smallest moon, was barely perceptible, showing only a thin sliver and concealing her remainder in darkness. The bow of the Fox cut through the calm dark water's surface with a surgical precision. There was a constant, resonant hiss as its ...

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“The Treasure Beneath Infinite Skies” by Fezan Javed

Submitted to Contest #67

I Pirate Supreme Ali Khursheed stood unmoved relative to his fluttering vessel. Like a feather with battered barbs, the travel-worn pirate ship drifted through the blue water currents. Up ahead loomed a hitherto fabled, but now quite real, treasure-laden island which the ship’s crew had longed to behold for many years. The erratically shaped land, dotted with palm trees and massive boulders, etched into the soft and soothing sky-mirroring water, was going to be the conclusion of Pirate Supreme Ali Khursheed’s long quest for the “fairy...

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“My Little Princess” by Muhammad Hamza Suleman

Submitted to Contest #67

“What if it’s a girl?” Her beautiful smile faded away. “What?” “What if it’s a girl Ernest?” Hannah repeated softly, caressing her swollen belly. Ernest frowned, pulling his lady close into a warm embrace, “What do you mean?” “You know what I mean.” Hannah was dead serious. She separated, disturbing the blankets wrapped around them. She covered her body, not letting her bare chest be exposed. Ernest Wolfric straightened his nightshirt which was wrinkled as it brushed against her smooth, tender skin. It was a veil, hiding his scars beneath. ...

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$50

Prize money

725

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 13, 2020 EST

Won by Deidra Whitt Lovegren 🏆

Title: Your Poor Rick

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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